No regional intervention should be allowed in Maldives: Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's High Commissioner Prasad Kariyawasam on Thursday said that his country was against any third party regional intervention in Maldives, where President Mohamed Nasheed was recently ousted.

Talking to PTI after inaugurating two-day National HRD Conclave of Federation of Gujarat Industries here, Kariyawasam said, "There should be no third-party regional intervention (in Maldives), and India has taken a right stand on the issue."

Asked about India's claim on permanent membership of UN security council, he said Sri Lanka backed India on this.

Talking about the recent incident of firing by Sri Lankan Navy on fishermen from Tamil Nadu, the High Commissioner denied that the Navy opened fire, but agreed that there should be an agreement among the SAARC countries on releasing fishermen straying into foreign waters within fifteen days.

About trade/industry cooperation between the two countries, he said NTPC had inked a joint venture pact with Ceylon Electricity Board to set up a 500 MW coal-based power plant in Sri Lanka, and the work on it would start in a month.

The plant, with investment of USD 800 million, would come up at Sampur, and is expected to go on stream by 2016.

Talking about the post-LTTE development in the areas held earlier by the insurgents, he said Sri Lankan government had successfully completed reconstruction of government buildings, roads, houses, places of worship and infrastructure facilities in the North and the East, which had revived the economy in these parts.